Apparently people are pretty passionate about their meat; when I asked folks where their favorite places are to buy fresh cuts of meat, their responses were quick and abundant. The good news is that there is no shortage of places to purchase fresh cuts of meat within the Omaha area, and the even better news is that many places selling fresh meat offer options like organic meat or meat from animals that were allowed to graze happily in the sunshine before meeting their demise.

Although many of my friends are adamant about only buying meat straight from the farm, there are plenty of people who venture off the farm and are still pleased with their purchases. My favorite place to buy meat is Trader Joe’s, but that’s mainly because I really like shopping at Trader Joe’s. I don’t really buy that much meat to begin with so I don’t pay much attention to the meat offerings elsewhere, but after hearing about all these other great places to buy meat I may have to venture out and expand my repertoire.

Farmers Markets

‘Tis the season for farmers markets, and for some people, this is where they choose to buy their cuts of meat. Such is the case with Christine Hughey, who says she’ll only buy meat at the farmers market “when it’s completely pasture raised.” That’s the great thing about farmers markets; you can stand there and talk to the people who have vast knowledge about the meat they’re selling.

For a complete schedule of local farmers markets along with listings of scheduled vendors, visit OmahaFarmersMarket.com.

Stoysich

You have to be pretty confident in your offerings if you call yourself, “The House of Sausage,” but Stoysich seems to have a pretty solid following so they must be doing something right. Stoysich offers steaks, roasts and smoked meat in addition to plenty of other products.

Mary Beth Ehlers says that Stoyich is “seriously one of the best places for fresh-made sausages, hot dogs and hand-trimmed meat.” It’s a family owned business that prides itself on being an old fashioned meat market.

Stoysich has two locations: 2532 South 24th Street and 2502 South 130th Avenue. Find out hours and other information on their website: www.stoysich.com.

Wohlner’s Neighborhood Grocery and Deli

David Wintroub’s insistence that Wohlner’s is one of the best places to buy meat in the Omaha area didn’t surprise me; I’ve heard from several people that Wohlner’s is The Place to get meat not only because of the high quality, but also because they really know what they’re doing when it comes to

meat. The cuts people buy from Wohlner’s are specially trimmed to the customer’s liking. This means you’ll spend less time scowling at your meat and trimming off pieces you don’t want to use.

Or am I the only person who scowls at meat?

Wohlner’s is located at 2289 South 67th Street in Aksarben Village and 3253 Dodge Street. Here is their website for more information: www.wohlners.com.

Honorable Mentions

I don’t shop at Costco and I can’t help but picture any meat they sell as coming in a huge package that is bigger than my entire refrigerator (and accompanied by a year’s worth of paper towels), but according to some of my friends, it’s really nothing like that. Many people swear by the meat they buy at Costco, saying it is good and inexpensive. They have a pretty impressive selection, too.

Fareway comes up quite a bit in conversation about places to buy meat, too. In particular, I have one friend who swears by the steaks offered at Fareway and she won’t buy them anywhere else. You can also customize your cut at Fareway, making it a good choice for people who know exactly what they want and aren’t afraid to ask for it.

If you want to bypass the store experience entirely, contact a local farm and order your meat in bulk. I suggest Johnson Hill Farm in Ceresco; they do an excellent job of helping you figure out how much meat to buy based on your family size and all that jazz. Here is their website to check them out: www.johnsonhillfarm.com.

The moral of the story is that there are plenty of options for finding meat in the Omaha area. Rejoice, carnivores!

posted at 02:23 pm on Monday, June 03rd, 2013

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